Bergara Barrel for TC Pro Htr Question

I'm looking at buying a Bergara 50 cal. barrel through Mike Bellms TC's company. After searching through his website and reading about how they tweak the barrels from Bergara before they are sold sounds like the place to but one from. I would also order a 1X and 2x hinge pin to try as well. I am not that crazy about the TC barrel that came with my pro htr. Has anyone else dealt with this them ?

I'm looking at buying a Bergara 50 cal. barrel through Mike Bellms TC's company. After searching through his website and reading about how they tweak the barrels from Bergara before they are sold sounds like the place to but one from. I would also order a 1X and 2x hinge pin to try as well. I am not that crazy about the TC barrel that came with my pro htr. Has anyone else dealt with this them ?

Thanks
wrmaniac

Absolutely. When dealing with either Mike or Kurt, you are dealing with the absolute, most knowledgeable people in North America when it comes to the Encore platform rifles. PERIOD! They set the bar for customer service so high, that no other business comes close. I've bought, talked to and discussed some extreme questions with both of them over the years. Top notch people, that do top quality work and provide top quality service.

When people upgrade triggers, hinge pins, HD firing pins springs and HD locking bolt springs, the smiths that may do the work, get their parts from Bellm.

I have a very close friend that purchased a Bergara barrel from Mike for his Pro Hunter. He's very satisfied. You will be too!

Encore thanks for your reply. I have read many of your posts and respect your knowledge of muzzleloading and related subjects. There certainly is a ton of info available and sifting through to find what actually works is frustrating and kinda enjoyable at the same time. I am going to use my current setup until our season is over and then place a order with Bellm' TC's .

wtmaniac, just to give you my experience with Bellms. First off, I'm not that happy. I ordered a forend, scope base and a Bergara barrel for my Encore, which isn't a pro Hunter. Kurt said they have a "special" box to send the barrel in and will have to ship the other parts separate AND of course I'll have to pay more shipping costs. When I got the barrel, which also came much later, it could have easily housed the forend and scope base. As for the barrel, it didn't have Bellm's stamp on it so I called and Kurt assured me his dad did got through it. They did send me a return label to send it back, but I haven't done so yet. I'm also very disappointed in that Bergara uses a CVA breech plug that won't work with Blackhorn powder. I wrote Blackhorn and they agree. I've shot the barrel, and while it's accurate, it also is not well sealed and I get lots of blowback which goes everywhere in the action. I've had to return to White Hots for fuel and hope the blow back is reduced. My advise is to ask more questions, call, don't email. Kurt was not inclined to answer my emails but will talk on the phone. I wish he'd been more helpful in explaining the shortcomings of the Bergara barrel; ie, it won't shoot Blackhorn and it isn't a good seal. There seems to be a better plug at CVA, but I haven't gotten all my info on it yet. Having said all that, I do think Bellms is a fine company to deal with, you just need to know what to ask. I didn't.

wtmaniac, just to give you my experience with Bellms. First off, I'm not that happy. I ordered a forend, scope base and a Bergara barrel for my Encore, which isn't a pro Hunter. Kurt said they have a "special" box to send the barrel in and will have to ship the other parts separate AND of course I'll have to pay more shipping costs. When I got the barrel, which also came much later, it could have easily housed the forend and scope base. As for the barrel, it didn't have Bellm's stamp on it so I called and Kurt assured me his dad did got through it. They did send me a return label to send it back, but I haven't done so yet. I'm also very disappointed in that Bergara uses a CVA breech plug that won't work with Blackhorn powder. I wrote Blackhorn and they agree. I've shot the barrel, and while it's accurate, it also is not well sealed and I get lots of blowback which goes everywhere in the action. I've had to return to White Hots for fuel and hope the blow back is reduced. My advise is to ask more questions, call, don't email. Kurt was not inclined to answer my emails but will talk on the phone. I wish he'd been more helpful in explaining the shortcomings of the Bergara barrel; ie, it won't shoot Blackhorn and it isn't a good seal. There seems to be a better plug at CVA, but I haven't gotten all my info on it yet. Having said all that, I do think Bellms is a fine company to deal with, you just need to know what to ask. I didn't.

The shipping issue has to do with FFL guidelines, which I can assure you I don't have a clue about. But, I do know parts must be shipped separate. Encore platform rifles fall under different rules, because of the ability to change barrels, even to pistol. As far as the breech plug, CVA for some reason has had a hard time understanding that muzzleloader shooters are switching to BH209 and didn't catch on quick enough. However you can order, from CVA the proper breech plug to shoot BH209 reliably, as they are manufacturing them. I believe they're about $20. Well, I know of one person that bought his for that price. You can make your existing breech plug shoot BH209 and ignite it reliably. You would drill out the flash hole to .031" (thirty one thousandths).

I didn't want to rain on the OP's parade but, I personally know shooters who have the Bergara barrels on Encores and Pro Hunters. They DO NOT shoot any better than the factory T/C barrels. I've have shooters shoot right here with me and using Bergara barrels purchased from Bellm. I'm sorry but, if the OP is expecting some kind of change like "daylight to dark" with a Bergara barrel, he's going to be quite unhappy. As I stated in the other post, a very good friend has one and he's very happy with it. But just for the record.......... He's 20 years younger and my factory Pro Hunter out shoots him and his Bergara barrel

Encore, I do agree with you. So does the guy in Manitoba who makes bullets for MZers. He thinks Bergara barrels are junk. I think that's overstating the point. I can't personally compare my Bergara to a T/C barrel. All I can say is that it does shoot well. But, I don't know about the FFL issue. They did ship the barrel direct to me, so I can't see an FFL issue as why not put the parts in with it? I don't know.

Woodnut, Thanks for your imput I was not aware the Bergara barrel ships with a breech plug that is not compatible with bh209 which I am using. They don't disclose that anywhere I can find on there site. However they do sell modified breech plugs. I plan on ordering thier hinge pin and trigger kit before I order a barrel and see what that does to tighten up my groups. I know that each rifle is unique in respect to finding the one powder/bullet/sabot combo that allows it to shoot the best.That is providing the shooter does his job. My current setup shoots good but not great I am just on a quest to get the most out of equipment.

Now Encore you have not rained on my parade just drizzled on it some. I am not looking for a magic wand improvement that must have been a assumption on your part. All the variables that go into making a particular rifle/ammo/scope. and shooters ability are endless. One of the reasons I doing all this is I just biught my son a CVA optima combo from Dunham's and right out of the box it will shoot circles around my "oh so great TC Pro hunter" LOL And I was the shooter in both cases. I just want to improve what I have.